Consignee

You're selling goods you don't own — displaying, marketing, and moving inventory that belongs to someone else, and only getting paid when it actually sells. The consignment model makes cash flow unpredictable by design: you can have a full display case of beautiful objects and earn nothing this week if none of them sell. Managing that reality — financially and psychologically — is part of what the role requires.

You'll interact with consignors who bring their items in, negotiate split terms, and expect regular updates on sales status. You'll also work with the customers who actually buy, which in art, antiques, and fashion requires a different kind of consultation than standard retail — the stories behind objects, the provenance, the specific fit for a collector's existing collection. The role sits at the intersection of curation and salesmanship, and the best consignees build a reputation in their category that draws both good consignors and serious buyers.

What makes consignment work is a strong sense of what will sell and at what price. Accepting inventory that won't move ties up display space and frustrates consignors; accepting items priced too high sits unsold and generates the same outcome. The judgment call about what to take, what to pass on, and how to price it is the core curatorial skill — and it develops over time through experience in the specific category you work.